A teenage boy was bundled off his bike and robbed of his mobile phone by a gang of thugs.

The terrified 16-year-old was cycling home through Llanishen, Cardiff, when he was knocked to the ground by four older boys close to the entrance of Morrisons supermarket in Ty Glas Road.

As two of the gang - who were all white and about 18-years-old - held him down another went through his bag and pockets until they found his Motorola L6 silver mobile phone before running off in the direction of Llanishen Rugby Club.

The teenager was left with cuts and bruises after the attack, which happened at about 9pm on Wednesday.

Detective Inspector Peter Thomas, head of Rumney CID, said: 'We are seeing young vulnerable people being targeted like this for their mobile phones and this was a nasty experience for this little lad.

'It is an opportunist crime and they probably just came across him.

'All they see is somebody on their own and they know all youngsters carry mobile phones.

'Sometimes they will ask for a cigarette or money to engage their victim but in this case nothing like this was said.

'We need the help of the public to help catch these people.'

The first suspect was wearing a distinctive light-blue hooded jacket with the logo Cabrini across the front in navy.

Another of the gang was wearing a navy zip-up fleece, had an earring possibly in his right ear and short black messy hair.

The third - who went through the victim's coat and stole the phone - had dark spiky hair.

And finally, the fourth member of the gang had dark flat-top style hair and was wearing dark clothes.

If you can help please contact Rumney CID on 029 2077 4233 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.